Bar code scanners have been used for many years for fast and convenient identification of objects, such as products entered into a sales transaction. As technology has improved, the variety of bar codes and other identification indicia has increased. One particularly promising additional technology is the use of imaging for scanning indicia such as a bar code. In contrast to conventional laser bar code scanning, imaging scanning captures a visual image of an object of interest and processes the image in order to extract relevant information. An imaging scanner often provides improved capability of reading very small bar codes and two dimensional bar codes, as compared to a conventional laser scanner. The use of an imaging scanner is made more efficient if the object to be scanned, such as a bar code, is presented to the imager in a position and orientation that provides the best perspective for the imager.
Integrating an imaging scanner into a conventional laser scanner provides improved versatility in scanning operations, allowing for laser scanning of some bar codes and imaging scanning of bar codes more suited to imaging scanning. The need to accommodate the facilities needed for both types of scanning, and to provide proper presentation stages for both types of scanning, imposes various constraints on the design and operation of the scanner. Constraints may be imposed, for example, on the manner of presentation of a bar code to be subjected to imaging scanning. If an imager is integrated into a conventional scanner, the positioning of the imager within the conventional scanner, and the need to operate the imager in conjunction with the conventional scanner, may dictate that a bar code be positioned facing away from the operator when presented to the imager. Such positioning prevents an operator from easily seeing the bar code and may make it more difficult for an operator to place the bar code in an ideal position for scanning by an imager.